I just happened upon this posting, and feel compelled to add a bit of info regarding fertilizing new plantings. The current "rule" regarding California native plantings is NOT to fertilize or amend soil at planting. This is especially true if the plants are native to your local area. In theory, if it's a native, the soil should contain everything your plant needs. That said, by virtue of normal landscaping practices, we have mucked things up for our plants. Still, with natives, it's best to start without fertilizer. If your plants are from other Mediterranean climate areas of the world, then a little starter fertilizer may be helpful. It may also be necessary to amend the soil to improve drainage. They key is to match the plant's natural habitat and needs as closely as possible. Note: if you have clay soil, but your plant is native to an area with different characteristics (rocky, sandy, low phosphorus, etc.), you need to be mindful of this. Clay is wonderfully fertile, but tough on plants that prefer better drainage. If you do choose to fertilize, organic fertilizers are better for the plants, soil, and the environment.

hey guys, been AWOL for a few days but some interesting responses. I didn't think pokeweek died back that much in winter? I have known property owners to plant it and have seen it green and without berries in the winter. In fact I was at a property yesterday where I noticed it growing in a flowerbed. If it is a pokeweed of a weedy variety, should I kill it? It is a desirable plant for a lot of folks around here. So I have been thinking a lot about what my strategy is going to be and I think I am going to clear some places for trees to go in in the next few weeks. I was walking through the woods near my neighborhood this weekend and I walked into a large grove of white pine and I noticed that for whatever reason, these vines don't grow under them, but do grow in the surrounding areas which are made up mostly of ash, oak, and those white mullberry looking things. I think for this reason I am going to start with some white pines and plan to add to them as I am able to get control of more and more areas. Once I get a handle on how much maintenance this will take and I hopefully get some areas cleared I will add some maples and oaks and other deciduous trees. Also I've been trying to identify some good undergrowth and my shrub ID book is delayed from Amazon (shouldn't have chosen the free shipping option because I have been waiting for weeks). Anyone got any ideas on some quick growing shrubs. The links below are to the State DNR nursery and order forms. They have some low priced native plants for sale. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/nursery/ http://www.dnr.state.md.us/forests/treemendous/ordertrees.asp Anyway, as always, thanks for the input.

Hi all. New in this forum. I've been following this discussion with much interest as it seems to me that wild grape has exploded here in N.E. Wisconsin. To be sure, it's been present forever, but in recent years, I'm just seeing more and more of this stuff, and it's very disturbing as it seems to preferentially be climbing up into my favorite trees...........conifers. It is not at all unusual to see vast amounts of otherwise nice spruce, cedar, and pine utterly grown over with this vine. And it does eventually do the trees in, simply by shading them out. So I ask, has anybody else noticed what seems like an increase in the presence of wild grape in your area woodlands....especially along roadsides? +oM

Trent, When we first bought our land here in the fall of 1997, I bought two small books, both replete with photos, that helped me identify many of the native plants on our property. I wanted to know what they were before we began clearing this overgrown acreage so that we would not unnecessarily remove useful/desirable plants. The two books are by Doyle McCoy and are called "Roadside Wild Fruits of Oklahoma" and "Roadside Trees and Shrubs of Oklahoma". I don't know if they are still in print because their copyright date is 1980 for the first one and 1981 for the second one, but they were printed by the University of Oklahoma Press so there's a chance they still might be in print. Sand Plum is identified by McCoy as being Prunus angustifolia, and he gives its primary name as "Chickasaw Plum" and then adds that it is also known as Sand Plum, Red Plum and Western Plum. Here where I live in Love County, a lot of people call them Thicket Plum because of their tendency to form thickets over time. The small plums make a wonderful jelly or jam and although most of them produce red fruit, we sometimes see an occasional one with yellow fruit. Possum Grape is identified by McCoy as Vitis vulpina and other names used for them in some areas includes Riverside Grape, Arroyo Grape, Bull Grape, Winter Grape, Frost Grape, Sweet Scented Grape and Post Oak Grape. Here in southern OK, most people call it Possum Grape or Fox Grape, and theses native possum grapes ripen in mid- thru late-August. Lots of folks here use them for jelly or wine. The leaves of the plants have large, simple, irregularly toothed blades. The other wild grape I see regularly in southern OK is Summer Grape, Vitis cinerea but they tend to grow on streambanks where the vines climb high into the native trees. Their leaves look somewhat similar to those of the Possum Grape, but tend to have three lobes and are a bit more hairy and whitish. Other names for Summer Grape are Blue Grape, Ashe Grape and Downy Grape. These grapes are a bit larger than the ones found on Possum Grapes and they tend to mature in July. They also are used by some people for jelly or wine. Hope this info helps. Dawn